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Transformation Garden - February 5, 2016

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways…Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.”

Psalm 128: 1, 2

“The one misery of ‘our life’ is self-will, the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills. To yield ‘our will’ to God is rest and peace. What disturbs us in this world is not “trouble,” but our opposition to trouble. The true source of all that frets and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but in the resistance of our wills to the will of God.”

Alexander MacLaren

Today’s Study Text:

“To every purpose, there is a time.”

Ecclesiastes 8: 6
King James Version

EXPLORATION

“God Brings Fulfillment” Part 6

“Heaven’s Fulfillment In Heaven’s Time”

“A Christian is not (their) own master, since all (our) time belongs to God.”

Ignatius of Antioch

What specifically am I waiting for God to “fully fill” in His time in my life?

“He has made everything beautiful in His time.”

Ecclesiastes 3: 11
KJV

INSPIRATION:

“Only eternal values can give meaning to temporal ones. Time must be the servant of eternity.”

Erwin W. Lutzer

As we have looked at how God brings His fulfillment into our lives, I wish I could tell you that today, this very minute, you will know God’s purpose fully for your life, and that every part of your life will feel full to overflowing. I can’t promise you this, however, I can promise you that God has and will bestow upon you everything you need to “fulfill” His plan in your life if you will agree to “abide” in His timetable. I know it’s hard to work with God’s timeline but from personal experience, I am a living example of the fact that waiting for God’s direction saves us much heartache and pain.

David found this out and that is why over 20 times in the Psalms he says, “Wait on the Lord.” Several times he uses the phrase, “Wait patiently” (Psalm 37: 7). And if you are thinking that doesn’t sound easy, all I can say to you is, “You are absolutely correct!”

However, by waiting on God, we’ll be walking in His plan for us – not on a path of our own desires.

As you think about the fulfillment God can bring to your life, I invite you to reflect on this story and the lesson it contains. For our fulfillment will be assured as we daily come closer to the person – our Heavenly Father – whom we long to reflect.

A man was kidnapped and taken away by bandits who hid him in a remote forest prison. Week after week, he languished with little food or comfort.

One day an old man arrived in the forest. He brought food to the bandits who were in control of the prisoners. But he also had a rug in his hand that he asked if he could give to the man who was locked up.

After some discussion, and having seen their prisoner pray everyday, the kidnappers gave the woven rug to the man. Everyday, the prisoner unrolled the small rug and knelt on it to pray.

One morning, when the kidnappers went to give their prisoner breakfast, they saw he was gone. His cell, along with his prayer rug weren’t anywhere to be found.

Several days later, the unshaven and very tired man walked into a small village – it was the village where he lived. Townspeople came running out jumping up and down, screaming with joy. The man’s wife and children ran to him – what a reunion. And then out of a small house, an old-man came, tears pouring down his face. It was the same man who had brought the rug to the prisoner.

The old man was his father.

He had heard from some travelers in the forest that a prisoner was being held. He knew as an elderly person he would be no threat to the bandits, especially if he brought them food and so, loaded with something to eat and a rug he had woven, he made his way to the camp.

Unknown to the bandits, the trails for an escape route through the forest were woven into the prayer rug.

At first the prisoner didn’t see the paths. The rug looked just like a maze of strings, but as time went by and his daily prayers continued, the pattern in the rug began to appear before His eyes. His father had charted a course for his safe return home.

Your Father has woven a rug with His pattern for your life on it. Keep close to Him. Keep talking to Him. Keep walking with Him. And in His time – you will see His pattern for the fulfillment you long for in your life. He has woven into you the path home to Him.

“I would the precious time redeem,
And longer live for this alone,
To spend, and to be spent, for them
Who have not yet my Savior known;
Fully on these my mission prove,
And only breathe, to breathe, Thy love.”

Charles Wesley

AFFIRMATION:

“Divine purpose for us is learning to live in harmony with God’s will…when you know your part in the Divine Plan, there is never a feeling of inadequacy. You are always given the resources for any situation, any obstacle. There is no strain, there is always security.”

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